Ana Ritz C. Penaranda

Managing Director

As an equal opportunity employer, we turn a blind eye to the fact that Ritz chose to pose with a Shih Tzu and not an actual (fat) labrador.

Why are you here?

Ana Ritz C. Penaranda has “walked a long mile” in the shoes of her association clients. With more than 14 years’ experience as an association web project manager for 5 association websites under SOCMA (Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates,) Ritz has led the full life cycle of web management from rebuilding, redesigning, and launching websites to full backend maintenance.

In addition, she’s crafted numerous RFPs and negotiated contracts, so she’s a great translator between tech-speak and association-speak. Plus, she’s savvy at maximizing an association’s resources to leverage budgetary and staff constraints.

Ritz is known for her client-centric approach to road-mapping solutions that factor in every aspect of an engagement, from conceptualization to implementation. She’s ultra-responsive to her client’s needs, is fastidious about detail, and works until the job is done. Let’s just say that quitting isn’t in her vocabulary. And most importantly, she has a gift for making sure every client feels they are her only client.

Ritz lives in McLean, Virginia. Her son recently left for college and she’s now spending and enjoying most of her time with her “second son”, the biggest Shih Tzu in the world, Cooper. She is a MINI Cooper aficionado; was once a TV Producer; and is now a wannabe race car driver.

An Interesting Note of Relevance

Ritz and Shane Larrabee (principal of FatLab, LLC) have been working together for 14 years. During these 14 years, Ritz has been a client of FatLab and a project manager for one of FatLab’s largest association client’s before finally joining full time as a Managing Director. Ritz and Shane have probably launched over a dozen websites together (who’s counting, right?), built many custom applications and managed numerous websites together over the years. This is a team that not only knows their stuff, but knows each other.